Refrigerator barrier structure

Details Refrigerator barrier structure Refrigerator barrier structure

1999-11-24

2001-09-18

Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3624)

Supports: cabinet structure

Spaced insulated wall

Refrigerator cabinet

C312S401000, C312S296000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06290314

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator body structure, and more particularly, to a refrigerator barrier structure which can enlarge effective spaces of a freeze chamber and a refrigerating chamber.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, the refrigerator is provided with a body which forms an outer appearance of the refrigerator, and components for conducting a refrigerating cycle, such as compressor, evaporator, condenser, expansion valve, and etc. The refrigerator body not only forms the outer appearance of the refrigerator, but also insulates the freeze chamber and the refrigerating chamber from outside.
A prior art refrigerator body structure will be explained with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 2
. The prior art refrigerator body is provided with an outer case
10
for forming an outer surface of the refrigerator, inner cases
20
a
and
20
b
for forming inner surfaces of the refrigerator, and a barrier
30
between the inner cases
20
a
and
20
b
for separating the freeze chamber
100
and the refrigerating chamber
200
. There are doors
110
and
210
on a front surface of the refrigerating chamber
100
and the freeze chamber
200
, there are gaskets
115
and
215
in inside surfaces of the doors
110
and
210
for sealing and insulating, and there is a metal plate
32
on a front surface of the barrier
30
. An insulating material is stuffed in a space formed by the outer case
10
and the inner case
20
a
and
20
b
and an inside surface of the barrier
30
. In detail, polyurethane foam is stuffed in the space formed by the outer case
10
and the inner cases
20
a
and
20
b
. However, the inside surface of the barrier is stuffed, not with polyurethane foam, but with Styrofoam
40
formed to a required size and shaped in advance, because the barrier
30
should have a cold air supply passage(not shown) for supplying a cold air heat exchanged in the evaporator mounted in a rear side of the freeze chamber
100
and a cold air feed back passage(not shown) for feeding back the air relatively heated in a heat exchange in the refrigerating chamber
200
. If the styrofoam insulating material having none of the cold air supply passage and the cold air feed back passage formed therein in advance is not used, separate ducts for use as the cold air supply passage and the cold air feed back passage should be provided inside of the barrier
30
, before an inside of the barrier
30
is stuffed with polyurethane.
However, the stuffing of styrofoam
40
of a size and form inside of the barrier
30
in the related art refrigerator barrier structure has the following problems.
First, the styrofoam has a poor insulating property compared to polyurethane. Therefore, the styrofoam insulating material
40
should be thick for securing an adequate insulating performance, that results in a thick barrier
30
. That is, the thicker barrier
30
results in a reduced freeze chamber
100
and a refrigerating chamber
200
, that drops a spatial efficiency of the refrigerator.
Second, because the styrofoam insulating material
40
is more expensive than the polyurethane the use of styrofoam pushes up a production cost of the refrigerator. Accordingly, in order to solve the problem, a method is suggested, in which a polyurethane insulating film is formed in the barrier
30
. In this instance, separate cold air feed back duct and the like are provided in advance before polyurethane is stuffed between the outer case
10
and the inner cases
20
a
and
20
b.
However, such a method has the following problems.
Even the stuffing of the barrier space with polyurethane can not reduce a thickness of the barrier below a limit, because a space for close contact of gaskets for the refrigerating chamber and the freeze chamber should be secure on a front surface of the barrier. That is, in the related art method, even if polyurethane which has a good insulating property is used, enlarging effective spaces of the refrigerating chamber and the freeze chamber has been difficult since a thickness of the barrier should be kept greater than a certain limit for close contact of the gaskets. Moreover, the cold air ducts are deformed by a foam pressure during foaming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a refrigerator barrier structure that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator barrier structure which has an adequate insulating performance while a refrigerator space can be maximized.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the refrigerator barrier structure in a refrigerator body structure having a barrier for separating a refrigerating chamber and a freezing chamber, and a freezing chamber door and a refrigerating chamber door for open/closing of the freezing chamber, and the refrigerating chamber respectively, includes area enlarging means on a front portion of the barrier for securing an area for close contact of gaskets on the freeze chamber door and the refrigerating chamber door.
The area enlarging means including a horizontal portion in close contact with the barrier, and a vertical portion in close contact with a front portion of the barrier.
The area enlarging means further includes a front plate fitted to the horizontal portion of the area enlarging means.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2837900 (1958-06-01), Harle
patent: 4550576 (1985-11-01), Tate, Jr. et al.
patent: 4765696 (1988-08-01), Cordill et al.
patent: 4955676 (1990-09-01), Weaver et al.
patent: 5349832 (1994-09-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 6036294 (2000-03-01), Banicevic et al.

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